7 Deadly Sins - Sloth
Notes
Transcript
Lazy
Lazy
30 I passed by the field of one who was lazy,
by the vineyard of a stupid person;
31 and see, it was all overgrown with thorns;
the ground was covered with nettles,
and its stone wall was broken down.
32 Then I saw and considered it;
I looked and received instruction.
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want, like an armed warrior.
In the Summa Theologiae, Medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas said Sloth is "sluggishness of the mind which neglects to begin good... [it] is evil in its effect, if it so oppresses man as to draw him away entirely from good deeds." (2,35, ad 1)
The Pocket Catholic Catechism says:
Sloth is the desire for ease, even at the expense of doing the known will of God. Whatever we do in life requires effort. Everything we do is to be a means of salvation. The slothful person is unwilling to do what God wants because of the effort it takes to do it. Sloth becomes a sin when it slows down and even brings to a halt the energy we must expend in using the means to salvation.
Sloth or laziness is evident.
30 I passed by the field of one who was lazy,
by the vineyard of a stupid person;
31 and see, it was all overgrown with thorns;
the ground was covered with nettles,
and its stone wall was broken down.
—> It is obvious
—> Over growth of vegetation
—> Take over of weeds
—> LONGTERM the wall is broken down
—> This doesn’t happen over night it is a product of a long time of laziness
2. Seeing others laziness should impact us.
32 Then I saw and considered it;
I looked and received instruction.
—> Learn by example and not by experience.
—>
3. The path of the sluggard, sloth/laziness leads ultimately to poverty.
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want, like an armed warrior.
—> Sarcastically our writer says, it starts as a little
—> The writer uses economic poverty as a metaphor for all types of poverty.
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” 27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”
—> Mental Poverty
—> Physical Poverty
—> Spiritual Poverty
Sloth is deadly because it starts with a little and then its a habit and then its taken over. That is why these sins are deadly because they are slow killers. Sloth slowly moves us away from God.